Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Sooo yesterday was my 27th birthday - hooray! I was informed last weekend by a friend that 27 is "the best age", since it doesn't matter where you are at in your life, everything is perfectly on-time... For example, one could be married, un-married, single, or divorced; could have/not have children, etc. etc. So here's to being 27! Everything is perfect! Hip-hip-hooray!

To celebrate my birthday, I decided to go shopping. I went hog-wild at the thrift store, picking up vintage sewing pattens, fabrics, and baby clothes. My very best friend in the entire universe is expecting a little boy this coming summer, so when I saw this ADORABLE cotton outfit I had to have it. And for $2 I'd be silly to pass it up. I also found this lovely hand-knitted yellow onezie for $3. I'm still on the fence as to give it as a gift or keep it for my future child(ren)... What do you think? Too feminine for a bouncing baby boy???

There were sooo many lovely vintage patterns for children's clothing.... sigh... I sure hope I have a little girl one day because I am smitten for these dresses and that petal hat - eek!

Here is the fabric I picked up at the thrift store: lilac cotton, heavy red linen and some green/red print cotton (perfect for Christmas sewing), some charcoal sweatshirt knit fabric, striped cotton, and a ridiculously adorable printed jersey with little rabbits and carrots on it (top centre). Oh, and a couple metres of eyelet lace in the foreground as well. Can't wait to create!

It's still a little while before I can put my garden in, but I picked up lots of seeds yesterday. This summer is going to be delicious: spinach, lettuce, snow peas, banana peppers, cherry tomatoes, golden tomatoes, herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme, dill, oregano, chives, fennel, cilantro), green onions, 2 kinds of zucchini, and purple potatoes (!!!). I also picked up two different varieties of nasturtium and some marigolds to help with pollination AND to deter pests.

Plans for the rest of the day included veggin' out on the couch watching the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth) and going to the Greek restaurant for supper with my darling husband, then meeting some friends downtown at the pub for some karaoke. Hope you all have a magnificent day!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

I absolutely adore dark-denim jeans, so when I saw my friend's pair of True Religion jeans I was smitten. I was not, however, smitten with the price-tag. So I decided to make my own!

I borrowed Sew U: The Built by Wendy Guide to Making Your Own Wardrobe from my local library and used the pants pattern to construct my own slim-fitting bootcut jeans. Unlike many sewing patterns these days, I found the sizing to be fairly accurate. My measurements said I would be a size 6 and the fit was perfect. Often when using commercial sewing patterns, I make the size I'm meant to be, only to find out that the garment is way too big and then I need to do a whole bunch of extra work to take it in - arg!!!!

The real secret behind these jeans was my careful use of white top-stitching as a contrast with the dark denim. I stitched the entire garment together using regular navy coloured thread, but finished all the top-stitching using a heavy white embroidery thread. This was my first attempt at making a pair of pants with a waistband - and it's also only the fourth time I've successfully put in a zipper. Needless to say there are a few weird things going on around the fly area, but my stepmom suggested that using a bar-and-hook closure would probably be better than a traditional button, so that helped things to be a bit smoother.

I absolutely love these jeans. I've worn them out and about a couple of times and have gotten several compliments on them. After people say they like them, THEN I tell them that I made them... That seems to impress them more, ha ha ha!

Hubby and I went to Vancouver last weekend and all the cherry blossoms were out - BLISS!